Star Wars The Choices We Make Trilogy Part 1: Devastation 1-2
by TheRealImmortalBeloved
Summary: A story I started 16 years ago that, I decided to covert from notebook paper and fully revamp due to gaps in the story. It's the original story-line, extended and unrated with more backstory and character development that was there but not fully fleshed out. It's gonna be a wild ride full of every array of emotion. Unapologetic in how it makes you feel, think, and perceive things.


_Myrkr, the following morning_

"Hey, would ya look at that?" Han said, pointing at 3PO and Naomi.  
"I think its adorable" Mara said.  
"Han don't! let them sleep" said Leia, as he started to wake them up.  
"Let me do it" Mara interjected, heading towards them.  
"Hey, why does she get to wake them up and not me?"  
"Because Han, your idea of waking someone up is, by kicking their thigh and saying the ship is gonna blow in 30 seconds" Leia stated, crossing her arms and looking directly at him.  
"Well, it worked didn't it?"  
"Unless you want a centuries old Jedi cutting you down or Force shoving you, a gentle approach is needed" Leia explained, patting his right arm and saw his face crumble into that lopsided grin.  
"Can I at least knock on Golden Rod's head to wake him?"  
"You are so incorrigible!" Leia spoke shaking her head as Mara gently knelt to wake Naomi and slowly, she rose.

"Come on, lets get some breakfast for you dear" Mara said with a warm smile and ushered Naomi over. Han walked past them and coming upon C-3PO, he knocked on his head thrice.  
"Hey! GOLDEN ROD! Wake up"  
"Oh my! Where was I? ah yes, I was reattached to my own body by R2" the protocol droid recounted his time on Geonosis.

"What are you babbling about, golden rod?" inquired Han, ruffling his grayish hair.  
"I was telling mistress Naomi a story, but it would seem I must've auto shut off" He replied.  
"Mornin 3PO" came Naomi's groggy reply as she sipped her cup of caf. After they ate breakfast, Mara and Naomi trained together, the sunlight kissing their outlined figures. Mara had on Army green training clothes while Naomi wore similar but, hers were colored blue and smoke gray.

 _The Briole Star System_

Groggy but awake, Lucius had brought the Javelin to their fateful destination. Trixie had woken up to the ship juking slightly. Sliding out of her bunk and yawning, she went to the helm. Struggling against sleep, his eyes were opening and closing.  
"Come on Lucius, let's go lay down and I'll take over" I said, engaging the autopilot and helping him out of the chair.  
"No, I'm fine"  
"God, you're stubborn like a bantha!"  
"No, I'm not!" He said, glaring and rising out of the chair.  
"Yeah, you are!" _That's it baby, follow me to the bunk.  
"_I'll show you stubborn" declared Lucius, lunging at her but, she moved back towards her bunk.  
"Come here!"  
"I'm right here" Trixie said, smiling with a shoulder shrug. Lucius came at me again but I moved to trip him and with mild Force power, guided him into my bunk. Bringing the blanket up, I covered him up and still, he tried to get up.  
"I'm not tired! Let me alone"  
" _You want to sleep and awaken when we land"_ I said, using the Force to persuade him to fall asleep. I watched his face contort from mild aggression to subtle compliance.  
"I want to sleep and awaken when we land, that sounds like a good idea. Night Trixie, you sure you don't-"  
"I'm _positive._ Now go to sleep, we got some ways to go yet and I want you fully energized"  
"Okay" minutes later, Lucius was fast asleep and I was in the cockpit.

We had four hours to kill before reaching his intended destination, _Quip._ I had discovered the name by checking the star charts. Using the co-pilot's chair as a foot rest, I researched what info I could find on Quip. _Quip was a mountainous planet with little grasslands except fro some indigenous wildlife but that was about it. What could he want that's on Quip? Who was on Quip for that matter? Why was it necessary for him to not include me on this journey?_ All these questions plagued me because I had no answers for them and that bothered me the most. The digital display for Quip showed the standard electric blue sphere rotating slowly. Glancing over at him, I tried to read his face but no luck on that. D-MAS whirred to life and made his way to the cockpit. I moved to let him have the co-pilot's chair again.  
"I see you got him to sleep, that is a _rare_ thing for him"  
"I hadn't known that"  
"He tends to keep late hours and sometimes, I've slipped him _sleeping agents_ so he doesn't overwork himself."  
" _Oh wow"  
_ "Yes, I may be loyal to him but I'm devoted to his well-being over general friendship. Can't serve a dead owner, now can I?"  
"That's true. I'm gonna go prepare for the landing are you okay to take over?"  
"Go ahead Miss Trixie, I'll be fine"

In the cargo hold, I knelt in from of a weapons cache. Opening it, I retrieved two Crimson Hitman's blasters, laying them beside me. I noticed the inventory contained: some grenades, flares, a rocket launcher gauntlet, spare ammo packs, and portable shield generator. _Way to be prepared against a small stronghold._ I closed that cache up and opened one beside it. This one was heavier than the weapons which made me think he might've brought a bomb aboard. Opening the cache, my tension on edge, I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw the contents. _Pristine and polished silver armor showed my reflection in the chestplate. I couldn't believe how beautiful it looked! I picked up the helmet and looked it over, taking in the square and slender style versus today's standard Stormtrooper helmets. It had a black faceless visor with that gorgeous silver housing around it in a light slope._ A hand clasped my shoulder and I jumped with a scream.  
"Aaaahhh!" I yelped, dropping the helmet back into the cache.  
"Sorry about that dear, didn't know you were that captivated by my _Sith_ armor"  
"It's so _beautiful-_ wait, did you say _Sith_?"  
" _Old Republic Sith Trooper_ _armor worn in and around the time of Taris' destruction_ "  
"Why do you have it _exactly?"_  
"I am a collector of things that are old. Since I started doing research on the Old Republic, I went looking for old style armor, clothing, and sometimes weapons. I'm not falling to the Dark Side Trixie, I just really love the design of it."  
"But it's _Sith_ as in oppression, corruption, and evil"  
"I know but, I wanted to prepared for this trip so it was either this or Mandalorian armor and my credits can't cover for genuine Besgar armor."  
"I really don't know what to think of you right now" Yawning, I sat down beside her as she shook her head vehemently.  
"Calm down first of all, it's nothing to get upset about. Second, it's only a mild scare tactic for whatever is awaiting me- _us_ , so it'll be okay" I explained, with a soft chuckle rubbing her back and smiling brightly.  
"What's third?"  
"I had a sneaky suspicion that you'd try to board against my wishes so, I had a spare set made just for you" _He confessed, pushing the weapons cache towards the door and pulled another cache forward._ _Tapping in a coded sequence, it opened to reveal another set of Sith armor in my size_.

 _I looked at the second set of armor and looked at him with a glaring smile. The armor was beautiful and he had it made for me. Was this his way of letting me into his life?  
"_Is this your way of opening up to me?"  
"Given our argument earlier, call it a peace offering"  
"So, what is the armor made of?"  
"Finding the original schematics for them was nearly impossible but, there was a propaganda ad that was being auctioned off months ago. I went there and with D-MAS taking a passive screenshot of it, we went to a close friend and once a lump sum of credits was agreed upon, the armors were made. Yours, I had done a few weeks ago. They're composed of flex heavy armor-weave but susceptible to small knives, blaster deflection capabilities up to 20%, and derived from a mixture of Cortosis. The helmet has also been upgraded with a special detailed HUD that maps your surroundings for up to twenty feet, night vision, thermal imaging, etc. Also has kinetic absorption that can be redirected in melee combat. Would you like to try it on?" Lucius divulged the details following up by asking if I wanted to try it on.

"I do!" I said, a little _too_ excited getting to my feet.

It took 20 minutes to get me into the armor. _I felt so heavy so I used the Force to help balance me out properly. Walking around the cargo area, I got the hang of the armor._ Sitting down, I pulled off my helmet and chuckled, looking at myself.  
"Someone likes their armor huh?"  
"Yes, I do even if it has evil origins"  
"I also had them lined with detachability for emergency bathroom use"  
"Now, I'm _really_ happy about that!"  
"That was number one on the list of changes I wanted done to it, along with the ability to take it off faster"  
"That's also helpful too!"  
"You ready to make planetfall then?"  
"Yes"  
"D-MAS, take us down"

 _The surface of Quip_

 _One hour later_

Emerging from the Javelin's cargo hold, in full armor, D-MAS and Trixie carried the twin crates of tech equipment down the ramp and set them beside each other. Lucius guided the Mark 2 speeder bike down from its perch on the wall and turned it on, when he got outside. Taking his helmet off and sitting it on the bike, Lucius came over to the tech caches. Punching in a coded sequence, they both sprang open and various sized droids beeped, trilled, whistled, honked, and chittered at him.  
"Good, you guys ready to do your jobs?" the droids acknowledged him with multiple sounds and climbed out of the caches. The 13 droids flew away or dug underground, disappearing from sight. Taking an earpiece, he breathed into his mini rebreather and tapped the earpiece to life.  
"Rendezvous when you've completed your analysis and don't forget samples" He spoke and continued using the rebreather as he went back to his helmet to perform a scan of the area.  
"Can we take our helmets off?"  
"We can, the air's breathable" He said, and I pulled my helmet off taking a breath of the air. It was sweet and smelled of rain.  
"Were those resource droids you sent off?"  
"Mhm. I want details on the planet's geography and samples of its water, ground, plant life, wildlife too. Plus, it'll be good for the archives and whoever else might be interested for a few credits"

"This is true. Never hurts to have some money on the side"

"Mount up, got an energy source reading ten clicks west of here. D, you've got the ship til we return"  
"Understood sir, and happy hunting" With our helmets back on and supplies packed, we took off.

The Mark 2 speeder hummed and revved at top speed over the rocky terrain of Quip. Arriving at our destination half a click away, we dismounted and setup camp for the night. I laid down on the hill, searching the area with macro binoculars. I felt something off and looking back, saw Trixie pacing back and forth, helmet dropped on the ground.  
"You okay?"  
"New planet, atmosphere, you tell me" She stammered and snapped at me. Setting the macros down, I got up and went over to her slowly.  
"Easy honey. Take it slow, you have atmosphere sickness. Take deep breaths, _slow_ deep breaths" I surmised, guiding her to sit down on a rock and helped get her chestplate off. This would allow her to breathe better and not feel claustrophobic. Trixie turned away, vomited three times, coughing and groaning in disgust.  
"You need to get some food in your system, that'll help too plus drinking fluids as well"  
"Ughhhhh"  
"Feeling semi better?"  
"A little bit"  
"I'm gonna go get firewood and see if there's anything to eat nearby. Will you be okay by yourself?"  
"Yeah I should be" with that declaration, I went to the nearby forest and scavenged for kindling. The trees around me were square with octagon branch vines and obsidian in color. I wasn't sure if they were healthy or dead. I cut a few of the smaller ones along with some of the orange plant growth to see how they'd work for kindling. The results were surprising to say the least.

They made excellent kindling but with the side effect of burning too hot. Even the flames were different, burning a strong aqua blue and crackling with lightning. The orange plant growth caused the flames to reach a height of _three meters._ After getting a small meal devoured, they fell asleep in each other's arms. The crackling fire blazing gently and their bodies warming one another. The next day at the dawnbreak, Lucius awoke, got up, and left his lover sleeping while, he practiced levitating objects around him.

 _Coruscant, Jedi Temple_

 _Jedi council chambers_

Back on Coruscant, Luke stood at the viewport inside the temple, staring at the starlit sky and thought " _All the hard work, effort, and firepower put into restoring our home planet"_ Sure, they had restored some of Coruscant back to what it was before but, it didn't feel like home anymore.  
" _True it is"_ a familiar voice said from behind Luke.  
"Hello, Master Yoda"  
"What troubles have you, Skywalker?" Luke turned to face the spectral image of his former master.  
"Why did the Yuuzhan Vong attack us?"  
"To conquer is an obsession. Yuuzhan Vong have that, they do"  
"But that's not what I asked"  
" _Perhaps I can answer that for you,_ _son"_ Luke was taken aback as the sight of his father appearing.

"Father.."  
"When I was _Darth Vader,_ I wanted nothing more than to be the most powerful Jedi there ever was. Even if it meant, killing innocent people and I just didn't care when I killed Jedi, women, men, and kids with Force potential. But in the end, it was you who brought me back to the Light and made me see the wrong I'd done." Anakin finished with smile.  
"In the end, comes down to one single thing: _power._ Yes, power! Strong that obsession that is." Yoda said firmly.

"I leave you both now" and the ghost image of the legendary master wavered and disappeared. Anakin walked over to his son and stood next to him. They talked about family, other issues going on aside from the Vong, and for a time, they simply stood there. Father and son at peace in the calm of the storm that lay ahead. Anakin bid farewell and his image vanished too as two tears rolled down Luke's face in the half-illuminated city.

 _Myrkr_

On Myrkr, the ambush went well. Heading back to the Falcon, the three of them encountered a small scouting party of six Vong warriors.

"Great! Just what I need for my lunch break!" Han said, gripping his blaster tightly as one of the scouts pointed a finger at Han, barking " _Jeeedai!_ "  
"Way to go Han dear, you're doing the _opposite_ of what we're trying to do!" Leia blurted out, rolling her eyes.  
"Which is?"  
" _Not attract attention to ourselves"_ Mara chimed in.  
"Allow me" Naomi spoke, making her way in-between Leia and Han. Igniting her newly constructed yellow lightsaber with a Praetor-style hilt, threw it, and guided it mentally to the chest of the lead Vong of the scout group ending his life, with a fleshy crunch.  
"That's a nice trick you did!" complimented Mara.  
" _Admire later, fight now!"_ Leia barked, exploding into action. She dropped one warrior with a deadly kick to its throat. Han fired a series of shots at two Vong advancing to his position. Pulling a _thermal detonator,_ he timed and hurled it toward them.  
"DOWN! _DETONATOR!"_ shouted Han and the four of them took cover as the detonator went off with a concussive BOOM! The Vong warriors were hurled into the rock face where 3PO was sitting.  
"Oh how disgusting!" the droid said in shocked disgust at the carnage caused by the thermal detonator.

Mara leaped at the remaining Vong who were parrying blowing with Naomi and together, they were an even match for the enemy. Naomi cried out in pain as, an amphistaff stabbed through her left thigh.  
"You bastard!" She barked and cut the warrior's right arm off, amphistaff still clutched in its now severed hand.  
" _Jeedai scum!"_ the warrior sneered and punted Naomi in the air, towards a fast running Han Solo. _What amazing strength these Vong possess, I dread the thought if Lord Raven got his hands on these creatures. The galaxy would be a very different place today under his rule._  
"Hang on kid!" Han panted, pushing through a cramp in his right leg. Catching Naomi seconds later, both fell hard on the ground and something went _crunch._ Force grabbing Naomi's fallen blade, Leia did a scissor's cut to the one-armed warrior, decapitating him. Dropkicking the last Vong, Mara stabbed his head with a sickening fleshy _splat._ Lightsabers deactivated, Mara and Leia ran over to a convulsing Naomi and pain-stricken Han. 3PO had walked over as fast as his legs would allow, boarded the Falcon, and started up the engines. The Falcon hummed to life as Mara rescue carried Naomi with Leia gingerly helping her husband along.

" _Sithspawn!"_ Han cursed, holding his left arm and limping.  
"What's broken?"  
" _Everything"_ He groaned through gritted teeth as Leia helped him up the ramp and into the common area of the Falcon.  
"Get her on the table, _hurry!"_ Mara shouted to Leia, while she set Han against the wall. I was laid on the table and I could feel a sharp burning pain in my stomach. _Why was there a sharp pain in my stomach? Why was I convulsing so much? It was only a stab wound unless it was laced with poison! I didn't think of that while fighting them only that I'd need a simple bacta treatment and I'd be alright in a day or two. I hadn't thought about them using poisonous weapons. I do remember a slight pinprick inside of my thigh just before the blade was retracted. Clever bastards! But no, that wasn't it. Touching my stomach, I'd found the source of my pain. A sharp curved blade from the Vong's foot armor was lodged in my gut, blood gushing freely around it. Damn, I never thought I'd die like this. At least I'll have served Master Vandar with pride…._

"Hold on, you're gonna make it, _don't_ give up!" Leia said, putting pressure on the wound.

"Where's that damned droid at?! 3PO?!" Mara yelled, as the ship made a sharp bucking.  
"We're under attack by coral skippers!" the panicked droid cried from the cockpit. The ship rocked again but less violently and a voice crackled over the intercom.  
"Hey mom, need a hand?" it was Jaina Solo with Twin Suns squadron opening fire on the five coral skippers.  
"Jaina—"  
"Get into hyperspace and we'll meet later!" Jacen shouted, as he destroyed a skip.  
"Alright then, may the Force be with you" and the golden droid put in the coordinates for hyperspace and asked, "Now what?"  
"PUNCH IT!" Han barked and groaned in pain. Pinholes turned into streaks as the Falcon jumped into hyperspace leaving Twin Suns behind.

"We need to get her to Coruscant or the nearest medical facility quickly!" Leia said, struggling to keep Naomi's blood inside her.  
"Home is too far but, Hapes is three hours away" Mara said, calculating in her head.  
"Mara is correct. Coruscant is six hours so the logical choice is the Hapes cluster." 3PO confirmed coming from the cockpit.  
"At the next jump, set course for Hapes" Mara said, tending best she could to Naomi. Twenty minutes later, a new hyperspace jump was made and Twin Suns met up with them three minutes later. Over the radio, Han, still in pain but considerably less, explained their predicament. One more hyperspace jump and together, they went to Hapes. _I lay on the table, robes ripped off, pant leg torn open, bandage on my leg, and a makeshift tourniquet on my stomach. I felt the blade wedged inside of me still and knew I was on the edge of death.  
"Take my hand and squeeze tightly" _Mara offered soothingly, brushing my hair with a mother's grace. I did this and to my surprise, Leia pulled the claw out of my gut with voracity.  
"Nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgggggggggggggggggggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" I howled and screamed in bitter agony as blood sprayed their faces and clothes lightly. Mara followed up by pressing her lightsaber to my wound and I moaned, cascading into darkness from the intense pain and smell of my own burning flesh.

 _Quip_

Among the objects he levitated, Trixie was one of them. Feeling everything around him, Lucius smiled as the rays of the sun kissed his face. A sharp pain hit both of them like a herd of banthas. Trixie fell on the ground with a startled scream and I held my head, groaning as hot tears ran down my face. _What was THAT?! It felt like someone had been introduced to the most intense pain ever and—wait! NAOMI! It was Naomi that was in pain, but from what? For her to reach out so profoundly in the Force like that, I couldn't believe she projected such immense pain. Was she okay or had she died horribly? I couldn't tell because once I'd felt the pain, her presence vanished abruptly._  
"Did you feel and hear Naomi?" Trixie asked, brushing herself off and genuinely worried about her.  
"Most definitely. Though I can't tell if she's dead or simply passed out"  
"We should—"  
"Go where? We don't even know if it's _safe_. What good is it gonna do if we leave now and go to her last position only to find out its an ambush? Then we're two more dead Jedi. No, we stay here and find out what is awaiting me. You can go if you want, but I _must_ see my quest to its final end."  
"Fine," Trixie resigned with a soft sigh, feeling like she'd betrayed Naomi to a worse fate by not going to her aid and continued. "I'll stay but, promise me we'll go straight to her after your quest?"  
"I promise Trixie," I said, turning to face her and sighed. "I know it feels wrong to not do anything but look at the reality of the situation: We're across the galaxy from them. If we went right now, it would be _three days_ maybe longer depending on hyperspace traffic. It's safer to stay and wait besides, I feel Leia, Mara, and Han faintly so, Naomi is in good hands"

He said that to me, coming over and began packing our campsite up. I smothered the fire with dirt, bundled up our supplies, and Lucius surprised me with a hug. _I needed that hug more than he'd ever know. I don't like the stark reality of our situation but that's what I have to deal with and eventually, I'll get over it I guess._ Once I got my chestplate back on and the speeder bike was loaded, we went for the mysterious energy source. Scanning the area on all levels, we dismounted to a cave entrance. The cave entrance had been carved into the side of a black mountain by lightsaber. My HUD picked up a heat signature that was emerging from the cave and flickering back to normal vision, the heat signature was a _human woman. The woman was an identical match to Mon Mothma but that didn't make any sense. Why would this impostor be all the way out in the middle of nowhere? Then, she spoke in such a commanding alien tone it made my ears ring lightly while Trixie, was on the ground whimpering in pain.  
_

" _Gorcha numot shinfo krackcha!"  
_ "Hey, whatever and whoever you are, I can't understand you and you're hurting us!" I said, tending to Trixie best I could. When I looked at the woman again, her demeanor changed as her eyes flickered to my lightsaber.  
" _Ernah juto!"_ the woman said, pointing at my lightsaber.  
"What? Do you wanna see it or duel me? I don't speak your language and I upgraded to get every culture type installed" I spoke and the woman studied my posturing as I stood back up. She paused to think, lightly pacing thenreaching out, she called a branch from the forest behind the mountain and posed in Form Two. _Now that, I recognized.  
_ " _Ernah juto!"_ She growled those words again, shaking the stick at me. Calling my lightsaber to my hands, I ignited the twin blades, twirling them slowly and saluting taking up Form Five. My ringing ears stopped and Trixie gasped, getting to her feet.  
"I can hear again"  
"So can I, apparently she wanted to know whether I was Jedi or Sith"  
"Why weren't you in as much pain as me?" Trixie asked out of the blue.  
"I dunno, why did you get so sick when we made planetfall and I didn't?"  
"To be honest, I've never been off-world even though, I've encountered many different species. I guess that's the reason why"  
" _Forgive me, but that's not the reason at all. Please also forgive my deception, young Jedi I wasn't sure of who you were or what intentions you had on Quip. Not many can withstand garbled Ithorian amplified to the highest frequency pitch."  
_

"So, you can speak Basic, that's helpful! I was sent here by Lana, she said a woman named _Rieff_ would have the answers I seek"

"I know of Lana and she is right in your query. I have a great many answers to various questions but I ask two of you this moment: One, please remove your helmets and two, do you seek the _Sword of Beyvox?"_ Rieff asked.  
"I seek answers about where I really come from and what need would I have for a sword exactly?" I answered, pulling my helmet off and setting it on my speeder. Rieff gasped and moving forward one step, she was standing before us. _We were baffled how blindly fast she moved considering Rieff was sixty feet away. The other baffling part was her Mon Mothma visage faded revealing, a 5-foot-tall black woman with blue grey trappings and the front of her dreadlocks were in a small ponytail while the rest, hung free. Rieff's build had remained the same and a scar appeared on the left side of her face. Her face was soft and showed such youth for being so much older._ Deactivating my lightsaber, I clipped it to my belt as me and Trixie stared in confusion at what just transpired.  
"How did you do that?"  
"When you've spent _centuries_ in isolation, you tend to pickup some hobbies. I planet hopped for a long time after the _massacre_ , even went into hibernation for a couple of those centuries as a result. I was always good with eidetic memory and applying that my Force power, I was able to project someone else's face with ease. Projecting species is a little bit harder for me."

"What _massacre_?"  
"The whole of Clan Beyvox, except for me and whoever else survived. I can't _believe_ how much you resemble your _father_ right now. He would be so proud to see his _legacy_ survived the test of time"  
"I don't understand any of this Beyvox shit! It makes no sense how I resemble my father by being here?"  
"I'm sorry, I misspoke. When I say resemble, I meant you might be his last living family member, not his legitimate firstborn son."  
"What happened to my mother?"  
"Kid, I don't even know who they were but if they somehow survived like I did, they might be around. If they're dead, then you were probably handed over to caretakers and they took you to the Temple"  
"Great, more questions than answers" I said, shaking my head and storming off.  
"Sorry, he can be cranky like that sometimes. Lucius had all his hopes up in finding the answers he's been seeking. I'm Trixie Benine, by the way"  
"Pleasure to meet you Trixie Benine, did you have any questions?" Rieff asked, shifting her gaze between Lucius and Trixie.  
"What did you mean about my being sick?"  
"It's something I do to see if a person has _Beyvox_ blood in their veins. Your man, Lucius is Beyvox blood but, I don't know who his parents are"  
"Do you know Naomi Maddox?"

Rieff paused and glared in suspicion at hearing the name of a Jedi she thought to be dead.  
"How do you know that Maddox bitch? She's _not_ to be trusted!"  
"She fell out of Lucius' lightsaber some time ago, but why isn't she to be trusted?"  
"Naomi was sent as a spy for the Jedi council centuries ago and we were gonna execute her, but our fearless leader had other plans. In the end, I watched as our leader was killed by his former second-in-command, _Lord Raven._ Naomi was there when it happened, ask her what happened" Rieff seethed, honey eyes glaring in revolt and anger.  
"You're lying! Naomi would _never_ do something so heinous" Trixie said, feeling betrayed by this Rieff lady. _It wasn't possible but then again, Naomi's history is a mystery as are her intentions. But Naomi was so nice and was fighting on our side. Was Rieff responsible for Naomi being in pain earlier? Could she have reached out in the Force and somehow inflicted deadly harm to her?  
_ "Believe what you want, but _I_ _was_ _there!_ She's not to be trusted and an enemy of Beyvox! Furthermore, Lucius' lightsaber belonged to my dead leader so, I'll be taking it back" Rieff declared, reaching out for the lightsaber and before the two of them could stop her, it was in her possession.

"You'll give that back right now if, you know what's good for you. I'm not getting caught up in some old feud that you have. I will take _my_ lightsaber back and the so-called _Sword of Beyvox,_ I don't care who you are!" Lucius snapped, marching back over, Force aura emitting waves of angst, frustration, and anger mingled with sheer willpower.  
"Fine, you wanna teach me a lesson? So be it, but only _you_. If she intervenes, I'll _crush_ her and here's an example" Rieff said, Force grabbing Trixie lifted her up and slammed her back down enough to daze her. _Lucius looked at me with such ferocity that I hadn't seen fire in anyone's eyes since the early days of Beyvox. The last person to have that kind of fire was Trent. Now I admit, I didn't wanna do that to Trixie but I need to know if he's gonna let her peril cloud his goal of beating me._ Igniting his lightsaber, I performed a blazing blur of combinations, deactivated it, and re-clipped it to my belt.  
"Come on Kid, _show me what you're made of_ "

 _The wind picked up as the two of them circled each other with tensions high by Rieff's revelations. She remained neutral in posture, hands clasped behind her back with her eyes locked to his. He seethed with concern over Trixie's inflicted damage by Rieff, the blatant accusations about Naomi, and how she took his lightsaber away. Oh, how he would make her pay for all of it. Old or not, I will take my lightsaber back and cut her down._ Launching at Rieff, it began to snow lazily even though it was warm. She bobbed left and right, avoiding all my punches to her face then countered with leg sweeping following up with a direct kick to my chest. I brushed off the hit, blocking her backhand strikes and locked our hands following with a devastating headbutt to her nose. _CRUNCH!_ Rieff's nose gushed blood and she chuckled, licking her own blood.  
"Good shit, no one's done that to me in centuries"  
"Glad you like-" Lucius smirked but was cut off as Rieff blasted him with a Force push and leaping at him. Delivering a solid right elbow to his head, blurred hits to his midsection, finishing with a throat punch uppercut that sent him staggering Rieff shook her hands grinning.  
"My turn" I chuckled, running at her then, somersaulted over her and before she could react, put all my strength into my left leg to kick her kidneys. With her winded briefly, I continued my attack by hammering blows to her back and grabbing her dreads, I hurled her some twenty feet with effort. _Just because she's got a tiny frame doesn't mean she's easy to throw. I had to ground myself first and gather the strength to throw her at the same time, maintain my balance without falling over._

Holding my stomach, I felt the armor had been dented from her blows and spitting on the ground, the blood signified ribs were broken along with a possible rupture. _Guess she overloaded the kinetic absorption rate._ I reached out for my lightsaber and Rieff pushed herself up, reaching out for it as well, causing a tug of war for the lightsaber. The snow had laid a couple inches by now, leaving blue flakes around us. I grimaced as Rieff's Force grip was so overwhelming but I wouldn't give in. _This was my lightsaber, my weapon, my halberd. I put it together, found the crystal, trained with it, and we have a bond._ Sheer will flowing off in waves, Lucius marched towards me, right hand outstretched and the ground around us shook by our Force power. _That's what I wanted: full focus on me and only you. Show me what power you got hidden away, heir of Beyvox!_  
"You haven't earned the right to wield this lightsaber! I yelled over the intensifying of our Force wrestling.  
"I found the crystal, built it in sheer darkness, trained and slept with it. We our as one and you won't be the one to break _our_ bond! Clan or not, _this_ _is_ _MINE_!" _Lucius roared in a speech so moving it, for a brief moment I thought it was Trent wresting with me. Three things happened in that moment: Lucius' Force presence increased tenfold, pushing me into the ground where I lay bewildered by his power. I had lost to the future bloodline of Beyvox and couldn't be prouder. Lastly, he took up Trent's lightsaber igniting that snap hiss and as the blade hummed downward, he stopped cold._  
"Lucius no, _don't!_ " Trixie cried out, and for the smallest of moments, everything froze.

 _The snow ceased falling, wildlife went quiet, and in the silence the humming of his lightsaber along with our breathing was all that could be heard. I watched him hesitate and come out of his tender fury gradually. I had_ _never_ _been bested in battle, sparring or otherwise, but Lucius defeated me in overwhelming fashion. A shieldmaiden of Beyvox beaten by the last descendant of the same clan._ As his demeanor soften considerably and blade extinguished, did I dare to move into a sitting position. Trixie climbed over the flattened wooden fence and jogged to his side, comforting him.  
"I imagine Lana told you there would be a test to pass?"  
"Yes, she did"  
"Well, you passed the _first_ one with flying colors"  
"Wait, how _many_ are there?"  
"Just two," I said, getting to my feet groaning in pain before I continued. "skill and endurance. You have proven your skill against me but now, you'll prove your endurance"  
"Against who?"  
"My _acolytes_ I've been training for the past twenty years. Come forth!" Rieff called and her acolytes emerged from the cave.

Four _Gammorrean Elite Guards_ filed out of the cave, armed with big singled-bladed axes, spiked clubs, armor, and double-bladed axes. They may come off as ugly but they were somewhat smart but with the Elite, those guards were actually highly lethal. Factor in training with Rieff for almost a quarter of a century, anything was possible. _I could feel their presence in the Force and knew that they would be a challenge but nothing compared to Rieff I imagined._ Igniting my saber, I started to charge.  
"No lightsabers"  
"Okay I'll improvise" putting on my helmet and jumping at who I assumed to be the leader, I kicked his left wrist forcing him to drop the axe in that hand. Retreating as he brought his secondary blade downward, I felt my chains jerk from under my armor and Trixie scream. Turning back, I saw she had been bound by them. Grabbing the axe, I cut the third guardsman in his gut, spilling some blood. _Turns out, Gammorreans bellies have tough muscle underneath so bringing them down wasn't gonna be that easy after all. Stupid Lucius, stop overestimating your opponents!  
_ "What gives?" Trixie grunted as she struggled against my chains.  
"Just in case you decide to help him. This is a test for him, not you. If he is truly worthy in this final test, he will have earned the sword"  
"And if not?"  
"Then you will both die" Rieff said and Trixie looked at her in horror before the shieldmaiden's face broke into a smile. "I'm _kidding_! You will be sent on your way and never allowed to return"

A loud _CRACK_ sounded from my armor as a spiked club from guard 2 had shattered it.  
" _Dammit!"_ Backflipping, I sliced guard 2 in his throat, watching him go down motionless. _Ahh, so you aren't protected everywhere…_ With three left, my HUD calculated and recorded the fight as it progressed. I went for guard 3 and drove the stolen axe home with vilification, hearing him squeal while his guts spilled into the snow. Ripping the axe free, I found it to be stuck and that's when, the twosome moved blindingly fast. I found myself in the embrace of one while the other, chopped at my torso with brutal accuracy. I heard the cracking of my armor and it fell off, leaving me fully exposed to a death blow. Mustering all my strength into my legs, I brought them up and double kicked outwards sending guard 4 toppling over. All the while, Rieff paced slowly waiting for her chance to fight Lucius again. Trixie watched the battle with Lucius and Rieff's pacing, struggling to free herself of bondage.  
"You're waiting for something, aren't you?"

"How very astute of you, Young Knight. I am waiting for this gauntlet to be over, so I can take him down when he is at his weakest. You see, the first test against me was skill in the Force but the second test is endurance. Endurance against the strongest warriors of Clan Beyvox but since they are no more, I am the last of the old guard. In the days when we were at full strength, a gauntlet was held to determined who was the best of us. I won that challenge the first time and became the quartermaster for it. It was the most grueling crucible for everyone involved"  
"Because at the end they had to face you, right?"  
"That is correct. Only one ever bested me in skill and endurance, I'm anxious to see if lightning will strike _twice."_ I pulled the leader over my shoulder, with a squealing grunting roar and as he came back down, I seized his neck, viciously snapping it ending his existence. Grabbing up the spiked club, I shook it and roared in defiance as the remaining guard squealed back in challenge. Charging at me with his double-bladed axe, we clashed for a time. He went for a thrust, so I took the blow on my left arm, seeing mild sparks from the impact. Still protected by my helm, I ducked under a cut that turned into a chop for my head. The blow to my head jarred me, disrupted my HUD, and _split_ the helmet in two. My blue dreadlocks fell into my face, throwing them back I bellowed, " _NOW YOU DIE!"_.

Spinning and raising the club up, I smashed it into the guard's head with a resonating _SPLAT._ Looking around at the vile carnage of blood and bedlam with cold satisfaction, Lucius panted dropping to his knees groaning in pain.  
" _LOOK OUT!"_ Trixie yelled at me and I had little time to react as Rieff started towards me. Her stature was one of finality and her eyes, spoke totality. I watched as her right hand produced a lightsaber hilt. The hilt was intriguing and caught my eye because, it had an 8-inch hook that curved so it left enough room for a two-handed grip. Extending my left hand out, my lightsaber flew into my hand and activated. Rieff depressed a gray button and a _two-foot metal blade_ shot out in a smoky vapor.  
"This is the Sword of Beyvox. It is made entirely of _Adamium_ , an ancient metal known to be the strongest alloy in my time." She said, saluting with the legendary sword as I shed my damaged armor to reveal, a red leather vest over my cream shirt and matching pants.  
"The lightsaber you wield, a crystal like yours is rarely used in a _Jedi_ weapon. Only someone of _Beyvox_ origin would wanna implement it"  
"My supposed heritage has nothing to do with your clan"  
"Yet, you came here looking for answers and still many dwell in your head"  
"I grow tired of this. You're only delaying the inevitable!"  
"Only one of us is leaving here victor, that I can guarantee you. Prepare for your final crucible Lucius!" Rieff declared settling into Form Three while I took up Form Six.


End file.
